32,638 women were living with diagnosed HIV in Florida at the end of 2023, a quarter of everyone with HIV in the state[1]. Florida funds care built specifically for them: six Ryan White Part D sites providing family-centered primary care, and TOPWA outreach in eight counties for people who are pregnant. Use our locator to find the nearest site.
What Florida's numbers say about women
At year-end 2023, 32,638 women were living with diagnosed HIV in Florida — 25% of the state total — and 996 women were newly diagnosed during 2023, 21% of new diagnoses[1].
The disparity inside that number is the widest in Florida's data: Black women were diagnosed at 13.2 times the rate of White women in 2023 (41.6 per 100,000 versus 3.1)[1]. Any honest description of HIV among women in Florida starts there, because it tells you where outreach, testing, and rapid-start programs actually need to be.
And this is an aging population: 19,422 women with HIV in Florida are 50 or older[1]. That means menopause, bone health, heart health, and cancer screening belong in the same appointment as your viral load — bring them up, and ask your clinician to plan for them rather than react to them.
Ryan White Part D: care designed around families
Ryan White Part D funds outpatient, family-centered primary and specialty medical care and support services for low-income women, infants, children, and youth with HIV, delivered through local community-based organizations. Allowable services include medical care, case management, transportation to appointments, and outreach to bring people into care and keep them there[2].
Florida has six Part D sites. In HRSA's FY2025 award table they are: North Broward Hospital District (Fort Lauderdale), University of Florida (Gainesville), University of Miami (Miami), the Florida Department of Health (Orlando), Bond Community Health Center (Tallahassee), and the University of South Florida (Tampa)[3].
One caution worth knowing before you call: Florida's own Part D provider list names the Broward grantee as Children's Diagnostic & Treatment Center, Inc. rather than North Broward Hospital District, and the two documents show different award amounts[4]. If you are in Broward, verify the current site with FL DOH or your Ryan White Part A office rather than assuming either name is the front door.
TOPWA: outreach that comes to you
TOPWA — Targeted Outreach for Pregnant Women — was created in 1999 under a 1998 state law to reach pregnant people who have HIV, and pregnant people at high risk who aren't getting services. Outreach workers go into untraditional venues and locations to find and enroll people who have not accessed care[5].
Eligibility is written broadly: any pregnant substance-using woman with or at risk of acquiring HIV is eligible. Enrolled participants can get help with prenatal care, HIV testing, family planning, enrollment in ADAP or Medicaid, and HIV prevention and education. TOPWA is funded in eight counties: Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas, and St. Lucie[5].
The program is written into state law at Fla. Stat. § 381.0045, which requires outreach to be peer-based, culturally sensitive, and nonjudgmental, and requires the state to give pregnant people with HIV information about antiretroviral medication for their newborns and how to get medication after hospital discharge, to link people to substance use and mental health treatment, and to keep following any newborn exposed to HIV until final status is known[6].
Prenatal HIV testing, and your right to refuse
Florida law (§ 384.31, F.S.) requires anyone attending a pregnant patient during gestation and delivery to have her tested for sexually transmissible diseases including HIV. The same statute is explicit about consent: "The woman shall be informed of the tests that will be conducted and of her right to refuse testing. If a woman objects to testing, a written statement of objection, signed by the woman, shall be placed in the woman's medical record and no testing shall occur."[7]
The schedule comes from the implementing rule, F.A.C. 64D-3.042, not from the statute: testing at the initial prenatal exam and again at 28–32 weeks. Someone with documented HIV need not be retested that pregnancy. Anyone who arrives at delivery — or within 30 days postpartum — with no prenatal care or no testing after the 27th week is to be tested for hepatitis B surface antigen, HIV, and syphilis before discharge[5].
If the cost of a newborn's medication is the barrier, Baby RxPress exists for exactly that moment: it provides HIV medication to HIV-exposed and HIV-positive newborns before they leave the hospital, for families with no insurance, no money for the medication, or no way to get to a pharmacy[8]. It is a medication-access program, not case management — ask for it by name, and ask your county health department for the voucher.
Peer support built by women living with HIV
The Well Project is the most practical starting point online: resources and support for women living with HIV, including material for people newly diagnosed, a blog written by and for women living with HIV, and print resources in English and Spanish shipped free within the United States[9].
Positive Women's Network–USA is a national membership body of women living with HIV, founded in 2008 by 28 women leaders living with HIV. It builds a leadership pipeline and a policy agenda that applies a gender lens to the U.S. epidemic, working through regional chapters and phone-based working groups[10]. PWN-USA organizes nationally and has run Florida ADAP advocacy — it does not list a named Florida chapter, so join through the national site.
One number to hand your clinician rather than call yourself: the Perinatal HIV Hotline, 1-888-448-8765, staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week for provider consultation on HIV testing in pregnancy and antiretroviral use during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum[11]. If your OB seems unsure, that call is free and it is what the line is for.
Where to start in your county
To find a Part D site or any Ryan White provider near you, search HRSA's Find a Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Medical Provider tool by city, ZIP, or address[12]. Florida's own Part D provider list is the second document to check, since the state and federal lists differ on the Broward site[4].
If you are pregnant and outside the eight TOPWA counties, your county health department is still the route in — ask for perinatal HIV services and prenatal case management by name. The Florida HIV/AIDS Hotline is 1-800-352-2437, the ADAP Help Desk is 844-381-2327, and the FL DOH HIV/AIDS Section can be reached at 850-245-4422. Ask for a warm hand-off, not a phone number, and say the words "I need help today" if that's true.
Related questions
Where are Florida's Ryan White Part D sites?
Six sites: Fort Lauderdale, Gainesville, Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee, and Tampa. HRSA and Florida's health department list slightly different names for the Fort Lauderdale grantee, so verify the Broward site with FL DOH before you go.
What is TOPWA and who qualifies?
TOPWA is Florida's Targeted Outreach for Pregnant Women program, written into law at Fla. Stat. § 381.0045. Any pregnant substance-using woman with or at risk of acquiring HIV is eligible. It is funded in Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pinellas, and St. Lucie.
Can I refuse an HIV test during pregnancy in Florida?
Yes. Florida law requires you be informed of the tests and of your right to refuse. If you object, a written statement of objection that you sign goes in your medical record and no testing occurs.
How many women in Florida are living with HIV?
32,638 women were living with diagnosed HIV in Florida at the end of 2023 — about 25% of everyone with diagnosed HIV in the state. Just over 19,400 of them are 50 or older.
Related from RiseUpToHIV
References & Sources
- Florida Department of Health — State of the HIV Epidemic, Florida (2023 data). Counts of women living with HIV and newly diagnosed, age breakdown, and diagnosis rate ratios. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
- HRSA — Ryan White Part D: Services for Women, Infants, Children, and Youth. What Part D funds, including case management, transportation, and outreach. ↩
- HRSA — FY2025 Ryan White Part D grant awards. Federal list of Florida's six Part D recipients and award amounts. ↩
- Florida Department of Health — Ryan White Part D providers (Florida list). State list naming Children's Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Broward, with differing amounts. ↩ ↩
- Florida Department of Health — Perinatal HIV prevention (TOPWA and F.A.C. 64D-3.042). TOPWA history, eligibility, funded counties, and the prenatal testing schedule in rule. ↩ ↩ ↩
- Fla. Stat. § 381.0045 — Targeted outreach for pregnant women. Statutory basis for TOPWA and its peer-based, nonjudgmental outreach requirements. ↩
- Fla. Stat. § 384.31 — Testing of pregnant women; duty of the attendant. Prenatal HIV testing duty and the written right to refuse testing. ↩
- Florida Department of Health, Miami-Dade — Perinatal HIV services. Description of Baby RxPress as medication access for newborns before hospital discharge. ↩
- The Well Project. Resources, blog, and free English and Spanish print materials for women living with HIV. ↩
- Positive Women's Network–USA — About. National membership body founded in 2008 by 28 women leaders living with HIV. ↩
- CDC — HIV hotlines and warmlines. Perinatal HIV Hotline number and its 24/7 clinician consultation hours. ↩
- HRSA — Find a Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program medical provider. Federal search tool for Ryan White providers by city, ZIP, address, or state. ↩
Community publications like POZ, Positively Aware, and TheBody inform framing and lived-experience context on RiseUpToHIV. Every clinical, epidemiological, or public-health claim above is anchored to a primary source.